Arrows Up … and Down (Editorial)

Inside one of two of Standard Lithium Ltd.'s demonstration plants in El Dorado, which started producing lithium products (Madison Ogle)

It’s been a while since we’ve fired off our editorial arrows, but this week seemed like the right time.

↑ Standard Lithium Ltd. has secured a $225 million federal grant to build a commercial lithium production facility near Lewisville (Lafayette County). The Canadian company has been working to distill battery-quality lithium products from south Arkansas brinefields for nearly 10 years. The grant, which Standard Lithium partner Equinor is sharing, will go toward the first phase of Standard’s South West Arkansas Project. As our Kyle Massey reported, the “Lafayette County project is racing to be one of the first commercial-scale direct lithium extraction plants in the world.”

↑ A new registered student organization focused on venture capital has been formed at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Northwest Arkansas is growing as a center of startup development. The University Venture Capital Society will seek to give students access to this entrepreneurship environment.

↓ Infighting continues at the Arkansas Supreme Court. It’s messy and complicated, and its latest manifestation involves a dispute over the administrative authority of new Chief Justice Karen Baker. We’ve said this before but it bears repeating: Such internecine warfare undermines the public’s confidence in the state’s highest court.